Former cricketer-turned-commentator Alan Wilkins, in a live session on Islamabad United’s YouTube channel, said that Pakistan’s limited-overs captain Babar Azam can break into the ‘fab four’ of batsmen and make it the ‘famous five’.

The ‘fab four’ features India's Virat Kohli, Australia's Steve Smith, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and England's Joe Root.

“Babar Azam has got the eye and mental architecture to work out how to bat for a long time. He just now needs to get out there and bat for a long time. He knows what to do and has every shot in the book. You talk about Steve Smith, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Joe Root as fab four. There is no reason that Babar Azam could not make it the famous five. He has got the talent, technique and the determination,” said Wilkins.

“I think the next two years for Babar Azam is when he will be scrutinised. He has got to do it on the big stage. He is beautiful to watch. If you want to watch cricket played with panache, style and elegance then Babar Azam is right up there,” he added.

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Earlier this year, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra also claimed that Babar stood shoulder-to-shoulder with India’s batting maestro Kohli in terms of performances and could no longer be ignored in the fab-four list.

“I would keep Pakistan’s Babar Azam in the fab four. He stands shoulder to shoulder with India’s Virat Kohli. He is the number one batsman in T20Is, number-three in ODIs and number five in Test cricket. If you are in the top five in all three formats than how can you not be in the fab four of world cricket? He should be included in the fab four a 120 per cent,” said Chopra.

Babar is currently ranked number one in Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is), while also being the only player to be among the top five in ICC rankings across all formats.